


Anniversary

by WritingToKeepMySanity



Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: AU, Angst, Character Death, F/M, Feels, Lots and lots of feels, chocolate cupcakes and blue icing, like full on angst, what-ifs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-18
Updated: 2015-01-18
Packaged: 2018-03-08 03:19:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3193325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingToKeepMySanity/pseuds/WritingToKeepMySanity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every year, on August 18th, Tyson helped Percy make a chocolate cupcake with blue frosting. Every year, Percy ate exactly half the cupcake.</p><p>He never found anyone to share the other half with.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anniversary

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, my children. This was actually written before "Blood of Olympus" came out, exploring Percy's thoughts after the war if Annabeth had died. Obviously, it is AU, since only--spoilers!--the creep Octavian died, not Annabeth (though his death did make me strangely sad...) Anywho, here you go. A nice, hot plate of feels made just for you.

Percy woke, for the first time in almost a year, in his bunk in Cabin Three. The war had ended just yesterday and he'd had his first decent sleep since he was kidnapped, deep and free of dreams.

The first few seconds of being awake were filled with cloudiness, and he struggled to remember where he was. Tyson's snoring entered his ears, and he remembered. _Camp. War. Birthday. Hmmm... I'm hungry._

_Wait. Birthday?_

His eyes widened in shock. He was seventeen today.

Another thought hit him and he sat up quickly, almost hitting his head on the bunk above him.

_Today was his one year anniversary with Annabeth._

Percy leapt to his feet faster than he thought possible and stumbled around the dark cabin in search for a t-shirt that wasn't covered in monster dust, sweat, or blood, all the while racking his brain for ideas of what he should do for her.

 _I can't mess this up; I forgot our one month. How do I top Paris? Maybe she won't be_ too _mad since the war did end only yesterday..._

Memories of yesterday washed over him and he froze.

_He was fighting three Earthborn at once. He didn't see the fourth edging around him._

_A small hand yanking his sleeve and the sickening sound of a boulder hitting flesh._

_Annabeth's scream, full of pain._

_Percy didn't remember how, but every monster in a five foot radius was soon demolished as he stood over Annabeth._

_Her legs were twisted and her arm was bent at an odd angle. A thin line of blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth as a piece of her blonde hair fell over her gray eyes, now dull and unfocused._

_He grasped her hand, desperately trying to find a medic, telling her to hold on. She weakly squeezed back and whispered hoarsely, "I love you."_

_His voice was thick with tears as he said it back._

An oath to keep with final breath.

It took him a while to understand it, but he soon remembered back to when Chiron was leaving after Thalia's tree had been poisoned. He had made Annabeth swear on the River Styx to protect Percy.

The prophecy had been fulfilled.

He went a little crazy after that, slashing and hacking with Riptide like he still had the Mark of Achilles. Even after the enemy had been defeated, Percy remained on the battlefield, daring any of Gaea's minions to return. No one could talk sense into him (or knock it into him, like Clarisse suggested). Finally Chiron approached him, towing along the kid from the Hypnos cabin--Clovis. Clovis must've put some kind of spell on Percy to get him to sleep.

Percy sat down heavily on his bunk, rubbing a hand over his face. They would be burning the shrouds today. He didn't want to go, not really, but he knew he would be expected to go.

An hour later, he found himself at the amphitheater with the rest of the camp and the few Roman campers who decided to join. Standing between Jason and Leo, Percy watched as one by one, burial shrouds were burned.

Then Chiron brought out a silky gray shroud, embroidered with owls, the sign of Athena. Percy's throat constricted.

"And now," Chiron said gravely. "Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena. We ask Percy Jackson to come forward and do the final honors."

Percy wasn't quite sure he'd heard him right. Was this some twisted idea of a joke? It felt like, _C'mon down, your girlfriend just died saving you and now you're the next contestant on_ 'Burn the Shroud'!

Stiffly, he made his way forward to the fire. Accepting the torch from one of the Hephaestus kids, Percy turned to the rest of the campers. He wanted to say something, anything, but he couldn't find the words.

So he just thrust the shroud into the flames. As smoke curled into the air, it really hit him. Annabeth was gone. There wouldn't be anyone to call him Seaweed Brain, or bore him with architectural facts. No one left that he could fully trust or have his back in a fight.

Annabeth had been his mortal tie, his true Achilles' Heel. Now that she was gone, he felt like someone had ripped him in half.

Suddenly, he couldn't stand the eyes of all the campers on him. He had to get out. Pushing past several Ares' kids, he ran towards the dining pavilion, not noticing their grumblings.

Breathing hard, he sat down at the Poseidon table, buried his head in his arms, and tried to focus on just breathing.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there, but it wasn't long before he heard the sound of feet entering the pavilion.

"Brother!" Percy sat up and turned to see Tyson running up to him with his hands behind his back. "I made something for you."

Percy sighed. "Tyson, buddy, I'm sorry, but I'm just not in the mood--" he trailed off, standing to leave.

Tyson's big brown eye filled with tears. "B-but Annabeth wanted you to have it."

Percy froze. Slowly, he faced Tyson again. "What," he began carefully. "Did she want me to have?"

Pulling his arms from behind his back, Tyson thrust the present in Percy's face. It took him a minute, but Percy finally focused in on the object.

It was a chocolate cupcake.

With blue icing.

Hands shaking, Percy took the cupcake, idly thinking about how it resembled a brick with blue cement (he quickly pushed that thought aside, for it brought back too many memories). Holding the cake, he looked at Tyson, whose tears had vanished and were replaced with an eager expression.

Percy handled the dessert like it was a time bomb. "What did you mean Annabeth wanted me to have it?"

Tyson tugged at the edge of his flannel shirt. "Last year when we made the small cake for you, she said she wanted to make it a tr-" his face screwed in concentration. "Transition?"

Percy throat was dry and he wasn't getting enough air. "A tradition?"

His face breaking out in a smile, Tyson nodded happily. "Yes! Tradition."

For some unfathomable reason, Percy's eyes itched and he had a lump in his throat. Annabeth had planned on more birthdays like this; more (though she didn't know at the time) anniversaries spent splitting a chocolate cupcake.

They hadn't even made it a year.

Percy wanted to yell. He wanted to scream until his throat was raw and he couldn't breathe anymore. He wanted to throw down the cupcake and run. Run away from all of this. Run away from the memories.

But he knew he couldn't. He could practically see Annabeth scowling and calling him a Seaweed Brain for acting like that.

He didn't want to disappoint her.

So, under Tyson's expectant gaze, Percy managed to choke down half the cupcake. Trying to force out the thought that he should be watching Annabeth eat the other half, he thanked Tyson hastily and stumbled back to his cabin, his vision blurry.

Slamming the door behind him, Percy slid down to the floor and pressed his knuckles into his eyes. He couldn't remember the last time he felt like crying.

He wanted to be strong, like Annabeth would want him to be, but, as a few tears escaped and slipped down his face, Percy thought, _One night. I can start being strong in the morning,_

*~*~*~*~*~*

Percy had forgotten their one-month anniversary.

He never made the mistake of forgetting an anniversary again.

Every year, on August 18th, Tyson helped him bake a chocolate cupcake and frost it with blue icing.

Every year, he ate exactly one half of it.

He never found anyone else to share the other half with.

**Author's Note:**

> Angsty angst angst. Not sure how I feel about this, my writing style's changed since I wrote it. Hope you liked it anyway! Peace, love, and sanity!


End file.
